Red Sox Unveil New Look Lineup Vs. Rays To Support Notable Roster Change

When Alex Cora put together the Red Sox lineup for Monday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, he did something brand new – penciled Roman Anthony into the lineup.

Anthony will hit fifth and play right field. To make room for Anthony, Wilyer Abreu was placed on the injured list.

Ceddane Rafaela was originally slated to play right field for the first time in his career before Boston ultimately elected to promote Anthony instead. The defensive wiz will return to his home in center.

New Lineup:
1. Jarren Duran, LF
2. Rafeal Devers, DH
3. Abraham Toro, 1B
4. Trevor Story, SS
5. Roman Anthony, RF
6. Kristian Campbell, 2B
7. Marcelo Mayer, 3B
8. Ceddanne Rafaela, CF
9. Connor Wong, C

When Alex Bregman and Abreu return from injury, the roster will begin to get crowded. Rafaela is an incredibly gifted defender and can play multiple positions, but this could be a sign that they intend to platoon him in right field with Abreu going forward.

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Abreu is hitting just .185 against left-handed pitching this season and has one career home run against southpaws. Rafaela has performed very well against left-handed pitching this season, making the two an obvious pair. Anthony could also be platooned as Cora often does with rookie bats.

Fenway Park’s right field is one of the toughest in baseball, and Rafaela has never tackled it in a game before. He’s played three career innings in right field, all at the end of a game late last season in Toronto.

While it may take some time for Rafaela to learn the angles at Fenway, he should be able to adapt quickly should they deploy him there. After all, it’s just like center field, but a little further to the right.

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